Brits get ‘the fear’ from financial commitments

Diane King

Brits are a nation of commitment-phobes, with the purchase of big-ticket items like houses and cars making us unhappy and fearful, according to a new survey.

However, when it comes to the crunch, we tend to sign on the dotted line - because we'd rather settle than hunt for a better option, or risk being without something we value.

Phone specialist Envirofone’s poll found that out of 1,020 participants, 85 per cent said that getting tied into a long-term contract or commitment made them unhappy.

The study revealed that people are more nervous about getting into a mobile phone contract than renting a house, despite the level of financial commitment typically being dramatically different.

61 per cent of those polled said they had agreed to a long term mobile phone contact, with over a quarter (26 per cent) saying they had felt very uncomfortable about it.

A massive 78 per cent knew that a contract wasn’t their only option, but had agreed to it anyway. Interestingly, 16 per cent admitted that they don’t like having to look for a new contract, and a further 25 per cent rely on their existing provider to suggest a deal for them.

A third (30 per cent) even admitted that their eagerness to have a new phone had ruled their decision-making process.

As contracts or commitments draw to an end, the study highlighted that rather than take time to assess available options, we choose to dive straight back into a new one. Again, when considering phone contracts, 69 per cent will do little or no research before agreeing to a new plan.

Commenting on the research, Richard Mavers, director of group marketing and online strategy at Envirofone, said: “We were surprised to discover how many people enter into contracts they are not happy with, just because they don’t want to have to look around, or don’t want to risk being without something.

“Our research revealed that 40 per cent of the nation would be totally lost without their phone. This, combined with limited time, a little bit of laziness, and maybe even too much choice, could explain why we readily commitment to a new phone contract, often without doing much research beforehand.”

The top five long-term financial commitments that give us ‘the fear’ are: